Isao Tomita

Isao Tomita (1932-2016) While still a student at Keio University, Tomita began to work as a composer in a variety of fields. In 1974 he released 'Clair de lune' using synthesizers, which reached No. 1 on Billboard magazine, and became the first Japanese to be nominated for a Grammy Award. Since then, he has released a string of albums that have become unprecedented hits around the world. Since then, he has composed music for numerous NHK Taiga dramas and films directed by Yoji Yamada. In 2011, the 'ISAO TOMITA PROJECT' was launched. He continuously released 'Solaris', 'Clair de lune', and other past masterpieces on Nippon Columbia as remakes and surround sound versions. He was awarded the Asahi Prize in January 2011. In November, the world premiere of 'SYMPHONY IHATOV', based on the world of Kenji Miyazawa's works and featuring Hatsune Miku as the soloist, was a big hit. In 2014, he was invited to speak at the Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo 2014 in front of young music creators from around the world, which became a worldwide sensation. In May 2015, 'SYMPHONY IHATOV' was performed in Beijing, China. On May 5, 2016, he passed away from chronic heart failure at the age of 84. The space ballet symphony 'Doctor Coppelius', which he had been working on until an hour before his death, was performed in Tokyo as a memorial performance and became a big hit.